Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani evades question on children death in state

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Sunday evaded a question on the death of as many as 196 infants during December in two government hospitals of the state.

Rupani was speaking to media on sidelines of an event here but walked away from the reporters when his response to the children's death was sought by a scribe.

The Chief Minister was vividly speaking about the event wherein he took part but went mum as soon as a reporter began asking a question about children dying in state-run hospitals. He did not even wait for the question to complete and hurriedly left the venue.

As many as 111 children lost their lives at Rajkot civil hospital whereas 85 infants died during treatment at Ahmedabad civic hospital in December, according to the official data.

"In December, a total of 455 children were admitted out of which 85 lost their lives during treatment," GS Rathod, Superintendent of Ahmedabad Civil Hospital said.

According to Manish Mehta, head of Rajkot Civil Hospital, 269 children died in October, November and December months.